NOTES.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18672, 22 April 1926, Page 4

NOTES.

(By Builder.) "Builder" invites contributions from readers on any matter of interest which they might like to propose. /Correspondence on various subjects pertainin™ to building will also be accepted.

New premises will shortly be erected for the Public Trustee in Moray place, Dunedin. Tenders for the work will be received by Mr Cecil W. Wood, architect, 90 Hereford street, Chrisfchurch,' until 4 p.m. on May 12th. The- Akaroa and Wainui ltoad Board is inviting tenders, to close at 4 p.m. on April 30th, for the construction ot U9 chains of the Stoney Bay road, Akaroa. Certain additions and alterations are to be made to a house in Cambridge terrace. Mr T. Scarell, architect, Australian Chambers, is inviting tenders lor the work, close at noon on Monday. Messrs J. S. and M. J. Guthrie, architects, are inviting tenders, to close at 4 p.m. to-day, for a brick and concrete building iii Lichfield street. By the middle of this month, permits for the erection of 27 dwellings had been issued by the Christchurch City Council. None of those authorised last week will be very large. Tenders are invited for the addition of transepts to the small but historic church of St. Mary's, Heathcote Valley. This church, opened in 1860, is the oldest complete church now standing on the Canterbury Plains, and, with the exception of Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton, is the oldest in Canterbury. It is of interest to builders, as demonstrating the durability of totara. The church, which was removed last year to a more central position, was built throughout of I totara grown on Banks Peninsula, and the timber is in a state of perfect preservation. Some old piles, placed under the building in 1860, are also perfectly sound. Messrs S. and A. Luttrell are the architects. Mr G. L. Bull will erect at an early date three shops costing £2200 in Armagh street for the Misses Shillito. The additions to the Metropolitan Hotel in Manchester street will cost orer £3OOO. Mr T. E. Marriott- has the work in hand. Three shops will be erected shortly at the corner of High and St. Asaph streets for Mrs Finerty. Clark Brothers were the successful tenderers for the work, which will cost £4500. The contract for alterations to "The Sun" buildings has been secured by Mr N. McGillivray. An oil and '.-olours warehouse, which will cost £3BOO, will, bo built in Tuam street by Rennell Brothers for R. and E. Tingey. Mr W. H. Winsor, secretary of the Canterbury Builders' Association, left for the North Island last evening. He has a two-fold mission in Wellington. Recently a Wellington builder visited the Old Country and, while there, waited on the British Institute of Builders. He has returned to the Dominion, and Mr Winsor will interview him on matters connected with builders' organisations at Home. He will also see the Minister for Mines with regard to the publication of a book, setting out in detail particulars of New Zealand building stones. At the annual conference of the Builders' Federation, held ,recently at Dunedin, the Canterbury Association was entrusted with the work of preparing the book. The Dominion is said to be poorly oft' for building stones, but that statement may be due to ignorance of what resources we possess, through the nonpublication of a book. The only work wo have is a book by W. N. Blair, published in 1879, on building materials of the South Island. In Australia a book was published in 1915, by the Technological Museum of Sydney, with coloured , illustrations of various types of building stones. Wellington buildings i-n process of erection or authorised for the year ending March 31st last amounted in value (on contract price) to . £1,926,832, which is very easily a record for the city. This total represents a very substantial increase over previous years. A record was achieved in 1923-24, when the amount invested in new buildings was £1,361,584. The total for 1924-25 showed a falling away, being only £1,060,137, so that last years figures "show the big jump of £866,695. The pnst year will be known as a record, not only in aggregate value, but in the dimensions of the structures erected. The era of bigger buildings bus definitely dawned, and if building continues as active in the next few vears as it is at present Wellington is going to wear a changed aspect. Among the big hlocks at present under construction are the following: A.M.P. head office, £190,000; Wellington Publishing Company ("The Dominion"). £150,000; Hospital Administration block, £150,000; new National Bank, £60,000; tramwav workshops, £60,000; Levy building, about £50,000; Hope, Gibbons, Ltd., £35.000; oil companies' stores and works (Miramar), £50,000; Masonic Temple (Wellington terrace), £30,000, and Maoriliuid Motors, Ltd., £20,000.